Audax rides

Rutland Midnight Express report

I rode Rutland Midnight Express on Saturday with @Thrasher , it was a tester alright!

Having done a grand total of one overnight Audax before I clearly felt I was seasoned in the art of night riding.
Drive up to Baldock was spicy, trying not to get wiped out by the Friday night boy racers on the North Circular certainly livened things up. Just as we came off the junction for Baldock a wild @Ruserius emerges from the shadows looking to join the road, of course he's ridden up, of course.

Off we go after a little glitch with e-Brevet, it's cold already but we're rolling nicely. Few riders on ElliptiGos had me thinking I was hallucinating already! Not 10k out from the start a little group forms and out of nowhere Thomas The Tank Engine appears and takes up his position at the front of the bunch. A mythical, selfless being with a massive engine he pulls, and pulls and pulls... some brave soul tried to take a turn but Thomas quickly sent him packing. We were stretched; this was quick and a pretty stupid way to kick things off but maybe this was part of the Midnight Express vibe? Thomas just kept his Panzerwagen act going all the way to the first control 45k in at St. Ives where we arrived 12 minutes early. Unreal. Those that rode the train thanked him profusely but Thomas was nonchalant about the whole thing.

Out of St. Ives (without Thomas) the fog descended almost immediately, it didn't just get cold, it was baltic. We tried to keep a decent pace to stay warm but some of the quicker sections were dicey with visibility at I would guess, 10-15 metres. I think I saw @frank9755 on the tandem at some point, sorry I didn't wave/shout, I was not in a good place at that point :( The cold had really got to me around 90k but not as much as the fella on the Brother-something-or-other with a Hunt freehub that sounded like an angry swarm of Japanese hornets and a Garmin Varia-type rear light set to Utterly Obnoxious Prick mode. Three hills in quick succession after a lovely viaduct, Thrasher showed me a clean pair of heels there and I inched my arse over them as did not fancy going deep to stay with him. Second control at Oakham, great M&S service station, caught up with Thrasher and @WhitleyJay & @Amcharl. Chat, refuel, toilet and on we rolled into the dawn.

It. Was. Fucking. Cold. I tired to put in a surge up a little bump but all it did was expose the fragility of my legs and it didn't warm me up. The lanes, the light, the fields of rapeseed were all coalescing to provide 'a moment'; all the way to Bottesford it was an absolute joy.

Bottesford control at 155k was underwhelming in terms of food options so we didn't stop too long and started rolling south through some of the same lovely lanes we'd just come up. Another control at Whitwell which we pretty much rolled through and then onto Rutland Water which was super tranqui in the morning light but then full of flies or flying ants or whatever, free protein though. We hit it bang on Parkrun time so it was 5k of 'on your right!' which doesn't really work because of AirPods. I was starting to flag and in need of real scran, cafe at Fineshade Woods appeared just in the nick of time! Leisurely coffee, sarnie and cake and out we rolled into The Gravel Section! Nothing but unadulterated Tuscan vibes, the Fairlight Strael on 32s eating that shit up like Chicken Chow Mein.

Somewhat reinvigorated and having whipped off the arm warmers at the café (I too got burnt, obviously), we rolled on to the next control at 229k, Oundle. Didn't stop long then we clocked Amcharl and WhitleyJay... fweeends!!!

Caught up, had a chat and they were both riding superbly, particularly in light of their efforts on a 400 the previous weekend, chapeau indeed. WhitleyJay earning True Keeper Of The Cog stripes on 66 gear inches and demonstrating some truly enviable souplesse on the descents. A bit of a train formed with some other riders and then he re-appeared, Thomas!!! We picked up speed into the headwind (which was getting really tedious now) and I hid behind various wheels, was I fuck taking a turn. At around 260k I was fading like a cheap lightbulb and started canvassing support for a break, no way was I making it to the next control at that pace. Thankfully there were takers for the break and we laid down on a bit of lush grass at 270k for a bit, thank fuck for that. Bocadillos were consumed and after a much needed rest we rolled on to the next control at Ireland and finally back to the finish at Baldock. A fine day with lovely people but yeah, I found that one tough. The midnight depart, the cold overnight, the unnecessary 40k team pursuit at the start... some lessons were hopefully learnt, maybe, probably not!